Rolleston, Humphry Davy, Sir, 1862-1944

British physician, Oxford professor, historian of medicine.

Rolleston was a distinguished British physician who served as a consulting physician to the Royal Navy during World War I and was personal physician to George V. He was also an honorary fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and a consultant to the Army Medical Library.

Sir Humphry Davy Rolleston was born in Oxford in 1862. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, and at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, graduating with a medical degree in 1891. After acting as house-physician, he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy at St. Bartholomew's, at the same time gaining clinical experience as assistant physician to the Metropolitan Hospital. In 1890, he was elected curator of the museum, and three years later, assistant physician at St. George's Hospital. Soon afterwards, he joined the staff of the Victoria Hospital for Children, later becoming consulting physician in both hospitals. In 1901, he went to South Africa as consulting physician to the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital in Pretoria during the South African War. On his return to England, he became immersed in practice, lecturing and writing, co-editing the second edition of the System of Medicine between 1905 and 1911.

During the First World War, he served as consulting physician to the Royal Navy with the temporary rank of surgeon rear-admiral, and was knighted in 1918. After the war, he held in succession the presidencies of the Royal Society of Medicine (1918-1920), the Royal College of Physicians (1922-1926), and the Medical Society of London (1926-1927). In 1923, he was appointed physician-in-ordinary to King George V and from 1932 to 1936, was physician-extraordinary. In 1924, he was created a baronet and the following year was appointed Regis Professor of Physic at Cambridge, holding this post until 1932 when he became emeritus. From 1936, he was editor-in-chief of the British Encyclopaedia of Medical Practice .

Through out his career, he received numerous honours, including honorary degrees from universities in Britain, Europe and the United States. He died in Haslemere in 1944.

Published work Diseases of the liver, gall-bladder and bile-ducts, Macmillan and Co. London (1912)